Robots With Human Brains

A robot guided by human brain cells seems to be in the offing in the lab of Kevin Warwick and Ben Whalley at the University of Reading, UK. The two researchers have already created a successful rat brain robot (video).

The team say that observing how their neuron culture responds to stimulation could improve our understanding of neurological conditions such as epilepsy. For instance, the way large numbers of neurons sometimes spike in unison – a phenomenon known as "bursting" – may be similar to what happens during an epileptic seizure. If that behaviour can be altered by changing the culture chemically, electrically or physically, it might hint at potential therapies...

One aim is to investigate any differences in the behaviour of robots controlled by rat and human neurons. "We'll be trying to find out if the learning aspects and memory appear to be similar," says Warwick.